A while back I wrote a review on Yoplait Greek 100, and shortly after I published it I received an email from one of the publicists for Yoplait saying she had read the review and would like to send me a gift package as a thank you. I thought it was pretty neat, so I sent her my address. That was about mid-December, and since then I haven't heard anything more on the matter so I'd pretty much forgotten about it. Tonight I came home from work to find a FedEx package sitting in front of my door. It was the gift package! Inside was a little booklet of recipes featuring Greek 100, a work out towel, and a t-shirt. Nothing too fancy, but I was still a little geeked about it.

I decided to take a picture of myself in the t-shirt and send it to my mom and my two closest friends, all of whom know I'm on Weight Watchers. My mom and my friend Jessica (my friend who flew down for New Year's Eve) both laughed and said it was pretty cool. My friend Eric, who lives in Texas and whom I haven't seen since August, didn't even respond about the t-shirt. His only response was: "How much weight have you lost since I saw you last? You look great!"

Eric is not the type to fish out fake compliments. He's gay, and very bitchy, and always tells the truth. Coming from him, I was really flattered. But at the same time I couldn't help but wonder if I actually look any different from the last time I saw him. Going through an old weight-log of mine I noted that I weighed 153-ish in September, and I had just seen Eric a few weeks prior. Logic would assume I weighed somewhere in the high 150s when I saw him last. So, at best, that's only about seven pounds that I've lost. Can he really see a difference in only seven pounds?

I think this somewhat ties back into that little voice in the back of my mind telling me I can't do this, or that I'll always be fat. I hear the compliment, and although I appreciate it, it's like I can't really believe it. Even from Eric - it was really nice of him to say, but at the same time my mind just swims in self doubt. I need to stop. I need to hear these compliments and let them push me forward to do more, not let them drag me down. When someone tells me I look great, my response should be, "Thank you. Yes. I do look great!"